Many of us know Bill Forsyth from all his work at ProQuest. It is nice to see him honored for all his achievements. The following was written by ProQuest:

RUSA recognizes professional dedication and expertise in genealogical reference and research

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 26, 2014 — The Reference and User Services Association, (RUSA), a Division of the American Library Association, announced William (Bill) Forsyth, director of product management for ProQuest, is the recipient of the Genealogical Publishing Company award. The award, $1,500 and a citation donated by the Genealogical Publishing Company and sponsored by the History Section of RUSA, was created in 1992 to encourage, recognize and commend professional achievement in historical reference and research librarianship. Mr. Forsyth’s outstanding contributions to the field sustain the importance of genealogy in historical research. He is a widely recognized expert in genealogy and a frequent speaker. Mr. Forsyth is an active member of RUSA, completing a two-year term as Chair of the Local History Committee and will begin a new term as a member of the Genealogy Committee. He also serves on the Records Preservation and Access Committee and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

ProQuest
“Bill’s prominent service and dedication exemplifies the merits of this award,” said Helen Gbala, award committee chair, RUSA. “It’s an honor to recognize his accomplishments, leadership and passion for genealogical reference and research.”

“Bill has been at the center of contemporary genealogical developments for more than 20 years. He has been unstinting in his dedication to building high-quality genealogy subscription products for librarians,” said Joe Garonzik, marketing director, Genealogical Publishing Company. “His initiatives to educate librarians in their service to genealogy patrons have been second to none in the field.”

RUSA’s Achievement Awards give praise to the nation’s most exceptional librarians and individuals involved in reference services. This year’s award ceremony and reception will be held from 5:00pm to 6:30pm on Sunday, June 29 at the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas.

The Reference and User Services Association, (RUSA), a Division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need.

Genealogical.com, parent of the Genealogical Publishing Company and its affiliate, Clearfield Company, is the leading publisher of books and CDs on genealogy and family history. The company publishes more than 2,000 genealogy books and compact discs featuring colonial genealogy, Irish genealogy, immigration, royal ancestry, family history, and genealogy methods and sources.

ProQuest connects people with vetted, reliable information. Key to serious research, the company’s products are a gateway to the world’s knowledge including dissertations, governmental and cultural archives, news, historical collections and ebooks. ProQuest technologies serve users across the critical points in research, helping them discover, access, share, create and manage information.

The company’s cloud-based technologies offer flexible solutions for librarians, students and researchers through the ProQuest®, Bowker®, Dialog®, EBL®, ebrary® and Serials Solutions® businesses – and notable research tools such as the Summon® discovery service, Flow™, Pivot™ and the Intota™ library services platform. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with offices around the world.

He has been involved in genealogy for more than 35 years. He
has worked in the computer industry for more than 40 years in hardware,
software, and managerial positions. By the early 1970s, Dick was already
using a mainframe computer to enter his family data on punch cards. He
built his first home computer in 1980.